On October 15: Speak out for decent work across Ontario

People across Ontario are planning to show their support for a $15 minimum wage and decent work on October 15. On university and college campuses, all faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to join in.

In recent announcements, the Conservative government has indicated their intention to freeze the minimum wage at $14 an hour and consider repealing recent decent work reforms, including paid sick days, fair scheduling measures, and equal pay protections for contract, part-time, and temporary workers.

This is a position on which the current government can me moved. They are facing a lot of pressure from constituents because 66 per cent of Ontarians and 42 per cent of Conservative voters support a $15 minimum wage.

For faculty at Ontario universities, the repeal of Bill 148 would represent a major step back at just the time we need to be making leaps forward to deliver fairness for contract faculty. Too many contract faculty are working contract-to-contract without job security and doing the same work as their full-time colleagues for lower pay. At Ontario colleges, new equal pay measures have already delivered a substantive pay bump for non-unionized contract faculty.